Geobges exeefeld



G. KLEEFELD.

SEARCHLIGHT.

APPLICATION FILED no.9. 1921.

Patented May 2, 1922.

Fifi Id- UNITED STATES GEORGES KLEEFELD, OF BRUSSELS, BELGIUM. I

SEARCHLIGHT.

Application filed December 9, 1921.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Gnonens Knsernno, a subject of the King of the Belians, residing at 55 Rue du Congres, Brussels, Belgium, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Searchlights (for which I havemade application in Belgium, November 26, 1920, and Germany Dec. 8,1920,) of which the following is a specification.

The present invention has for its object improvements in searchlights,and particularly in searchlights for motor cars.

It has been found that when a motor car is rimning at hi h speed andmore especially when it fol ows an irregular path, the driverexperiences much difficulty in erceiving distant objects and curves in te road and especially curves with a small radius, on account of the factthat the zone of lighting obtained by ordinary searchlights is coaxialwith the car, whilst the direction to be taken is generally at a more orless extended angle to the same.

It has been found also that the maximum zone of lighting is desirablewhen the vehicle is traversing certain non-congested roadways whereasduring travel through congested districts it is necessary to reduce theglare of the lights, diil'used ight being preferably used.

In a eneral way, two lighting systems are availab e, the first forobtaining a strongly lighted zone at a relatively long range, and thesecond for obtaining a dim or difl'used li ht for driving in towns orother districts l wliere traflic is congested.

According to the present invention, an apparatus has been providedwhich, whilst affording ample illumination laterally of the vehicle willpermit either of an intense lighting at long range, or of a reducedlighting with difi'used light.

The arrangement of the invention comrises:

1. A lighting source, which is preferably, although not essentially, anelectric lam 2. A reflector producing a main stron li hting zone,coaxial with the vehicle, am 0? two mtensesecondary li 'hting zones,situated oneo'n' each side of the main lighting zone, and at a suitabledistance from the same. For this purpose the invention comprises thecombination 0 a main paraboloid, and of two sections of secondaryparaboloids,

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 2, 1922.

Serial No, 521,267.

the axes of which are set at an appropriate angle to the axis of themain paraboloid.

3. An arrangement for varying the positlon of the lighting source withrespect to the reflector.

l Means by which the gaps between the mam lighting zone and thesecondary lighting zones can be eliminated, and to this effect, thegenerating curve of the secondary surfaces of reflection can be acomplex curve composed of juxtaposed parts of paraboloids havlngappropriate parameters, projecting rays, received from the lightingsource in ad acent sectors, connecting the main part of the laterallight bundles with the main light bundle.

The invention is shown, by way ofexample, in the accompanying drawings.in which- Fig. 1 is a central horizontal section of a Searchlight;

Fig. 2 IS a View similar to Fig. 1, showlnr the means for connectin thelateral lm dit bundles with the main light bundle;

*1g. 3 IS a vertical section of the whole arran ement.

Refiirring to the drawing in detail. the reflector comprises a mainparaboloid X the axis of which is directed according to AA. and thefocus of which is at F.

In order to' obtain secondary lighting zones, the main paraboloid withfocus F is combmed with two secondary araboloids y and ythavingrespectively oci F and the axes of which coincide with lines B B and C0. As seen, the meeting oint K of AA, BB and CC is situated in rout ofthe different foci, at a distance which will practically be such that ifa lighting source is broughtto point K, the light ravs reflected by thesurfaces of the main paraboloid and the portions of secondaryparaboloids 11 andg are concentrated in points of the axes AA, BB and CCwhich are situated at such distances from point K and from each otherthat even in the case of a curve with a small radius, the internal, aswell as the external side of the curve are completely lighted.Practically, the centers of the secondary light zones can be situated atabout 40 meters in front of point K, and at a distance of 15 to 20meters from the axis AA.

In the arrangement shown in Fig. 3, 1 is the lighting source which, inthe present case, is a glow lamp, mounted in a socket :2 slidable in anopening provided in the reflector 3. The socket is connected by means ofan internally flanged ring 5, with a sleeve at which latter is threadedfor axial adjustment in a threaded sleeve 6 mounted in the casing '7 ofthe Searchlight. As seen, the socket 2 is normally urged towards itsextreme forward position by a spring 9 engaged at one end with thesleeve 4 and at its opposite end with ring 5, the sleeve 4 having a stopflange 10 engaging the front of the internal flange of the ring 5.

The arrangement comprises also means for pulling the socket 2rearwardly, said means being, in the case shown, a cable 11 fixed at oneend at '12 to the socket 2 and at the other end to a hand lever 14mounted on a bracket 14 attachable to the driving wheel column, (notshown) and a flexible sheath 13 surrounding cable 11 and received at oneend in a recess 15 of sleeve 4 and at the other end in a similar recess16 in the bracket 14.

The previous adjustment of the position of the lighting source isobtained by rotation in a suitable sense, of the screw member 6 abuttingagainst the external casing 7 of the search light. The rotation of thesleeve 6 effects the longitudinal displacement of the sockets 4 and 2along the axis of the searchlight. The sheath of the cable 11, thoughflexible, i non-twistable and, being forcibly inserted in the inside ofthe socket 4, prevents said socket from rotating with the sleeve 6. Itis obvious that in the case of several similar searchlights mounted onthe same vehicle, the actuating cables 11 for the different sockets canall be connected with the same lever 14*, and the simultaneousdisplacements of the different lighting sources obtained by a singlemovement of the handle. It is also understood that in the same case, aseparate adjustment of the positions of the various lighting sources isnecessary, which may be easily obtained by a suitable manipulation ofthe adjusting sleeve 6. As previously stated, when the lighting sourcelies at K, theprincipal' and secondary lighting zones are obtained. Whenthe car travels through a town or a village, the lighting source isbrought back by a suitable movement of the handle, to the positionindicated by M (axis A.A) in Fig. 1.

In this case, the main paraboloid will reflect the rays in a divergingmanner and the secondary paraboloids will act only weakly, with theresult that a lightin of very rc duced intensity and diffused light willbe obtained.

In order to connect the bundle of rays projected by the main paraboloidwith those projected by the secondary surfaces of reiicction y and 1 aspreviously explained and shown in Fig. 2, the sizes and parameters ofthe paraboloid sections can easily be determined according to thedesired light distribution, but a preferred solution consists inproviding secondary surfaces, of which for instance 40% (part A B of thegenerating curve having its axis A'A') are reserved to the formation ofthe lighted zones which are angularl most distant, and are spreadinginto bund es having proportiona ly the most important openings, whilstthe neighbouring 30% (part- B C of the generating curve having the axisB'--B') are made of a paraboloid section of smaller parameter and theaxis of which is less inclined on the main axis, whereby the formedlighting zones spread into bundles. of less opening, and so on, thereflecting sections C to D.,D' to. E and E to F having the axes C--G,and A-A,. respectively. V

In the distribution of 1i ht by this type of reflector, the most intenseighti zones are the central zone of the, main bun e and the extremelateral zones of the secondary bundles, and, between the latter and themain bundle, zones of decreasing lightin intensity from the said extremelatera secondary zones to the princi a1 bundle.

It is clear that reverse e ects can also be obtained, i. e., zones ofdecreasing intensity from the main zone, by reversing the abovedescribed arrangement.

It is also clear that, by multiplying the number of parabolic sectionsconstituting the generating curve of the secondary S111- faces 3 and y,and reaching the limit, secondary surfaces'will be obtained giving auniform lightin in all points of thesecondary bundles an connected withthe main bundle.

Having now described in invention, I hereby declare that what I c aimis:

D 1. A headlight for motor vehicles and the like, comprising a lightingsource and a reflector having a main paraboloid of revolution and twosecondary reflecting surfaces, arranged laterally on either side of themain paraboloid and extendingon either side of the main horizontalsymmetrical plane of the reflector, the secondary reflecting surfacesbeing composed of paraboloid sections the axes of which are disposed atangles to the axis of the main paraboloid, and at an angle to eachother, the axis of the, main paraboloid and the axes of the paraboloidsections bein situated within the main symmetrical horizontal plane ofthe reflector.

2. In a headlight, a lightin source and a reflector having a main paraloid section projecting a main strong lighting zone and two secondaryreflecting sections arranged laterally on either side of the mainaraboloid section and rejecting intense ighting zones on each side ofthe main lighting zone, the secondary reflecting sections being composedof complex paraboloid curves the axes of which are disposed at varyingangles to the axis of the main paraboloid section and at angles to eachother, the complex curvature of the secondary pareboloid sectionscausing the projection of light over the areas between the main stronglighting zone and the intense fighting zones.

3. A headlight for motor vehicles and the like comprising a lightingsource, a casing, a reflector, means for permanently regulating,according to the horizontal axis of the reflector, the position of thelighting source, said means consisting in the combination of a, slidablelamp socket and screw-threaded connected sleeves, one of said sleevesbeing in engagement with said socket and the other sleeve abuttingagainst the casing of the headlight, and means, independent of the firstnamed means, for term orarily modifying the position of the ightingsource along the main horizontal axis of the reflector, said meanscomprising a telesco ic connection of the lamp socket and the socl etengaging sleeve, and an elastic member normally maintaining the lampsocket in forwardly projected position.

In testimony whereof I nfiix my si ature.

GEORGES KLEEF LD. Witnesses:

Wn'rnBoLm', Ev'nnn'r VAWAV'IEER.

